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Handling receipts may increase BPA levels, says new study

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The thermal paper used cash register printers and fax machines can introduce BPA into the bloodstream, according to the findings of a study published in a medical journal. In this file photo a woman checks her receipt after visiting a supermarket in Baltimore.
(Star-Ledger File Photo)

Trying to curb your shopping habit? How about a health-related reason to steer clear of receipts.

Researchers have found that Bisphenol A, a chemical commonly referred to as BPA that's linked to reproductive and neurological health problems, can enter the body when people handle receipt paper, according to a new study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association.

Eating food from cans that contain BPA in their lining introduces significantly more of the chemical into the body* than receipts, but cashiers and bank tellers should consider taking some precautions to limit their exposure, said the study authors.

The JAMA website only allows full access to subscribers, but the first page of the article can be viewed here.

In 2010, when the FDA issued its position on BPA, the Environmental Working Group sampled receipts from McDonalds, CVS, KFC, Whole Foods, Walmart and the U.S. Postal Service. It found that 40 percent of the receipts contained BPA. Although the EWG found no traces of BPA in receipts from Target, Starbucks and Bank of America ATMs, it noted that it would be hard for consumers to know if they're being exposed to the chemical on thermal paper.

At the time the EWG's senior vice president of research said he was unsure what BPA in receipts could mean for cashiers. Today's news about the JAMA study, first reported by Reuters Health, sheds some light on its effects.

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The new study was very small. It focused on 24 Harvard School of Public Health students and staff between 2010 and 2011. Each subject was asked to handle receipt paper with gloves and without gloves several weeks apart. Then researchers compared the results of tests used to detect BPA from each exposure.

They also compared the exposure from handling receipts to eating food from a package that contains BPA and found the latter to have a greater effect.

Dr. Shelley Ehrlich, one of the authors and based at the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, said the findings shouldn't alarm casual shoppers. But bank tellers and retail workers who handle receipts more frequently than the average person, especially women who are pregnant or of child-bearing age, should be careful.

She said people who handle receipts for long periods of time on a daily basis should consider wearing gloves

"I don't think people should be super alarmed," she told Reuters Health, "but they should be aware."

Editors Note: An earlier version of this article mentioned BPA showing up in blood tests. Whether BPA can be detected in blood has recently been the subject of fierce debate.